A Self-Defense Blog Arming You With The Knowledge So You Can Stay Safe!

Today’s modern world can be a perilous place. Just scanning through your local newspaper or watching the regional news on the television will highlight story after story of assault, burglary, and even murder. But don’t worry help is at hand, our goal here at Self Defense Hero is to help educate you by showing you the simple steps needed to protect yourself with the best self-defense weapons along with tips, tricks, and good old common sense. We will give you the necessary and much-needed information and tools regarding self-defense in today’s modern world.

Self-Defense Weapons Basics

For many of you, the best route to take with self-defense and home defense is the non-lethal approach. Your main aim in any situation you find yourself in is to get away from your would-be attacker. Thankfully, there are a lot of non-lethal self-defense weapons readily available and below we’ve briefly touched on some of the most common products in today’s marketplace.

Stun Guns

A stun gun is a handheld device that uses a pulsed electrical current to temporarily incapacitate a would be attacker. Stun guns are very efficient at stopping attackers and in most cases just pressing the button on these devices which will create a loud crackling noise which will scare away most assailants.

Stun guns are the best self-defense weapon when you are tackling an attacker who has their back turned to you for example if you are trying to help someone else in trouble.

It’s important to note that stun guns have to make physical contact with an attacker and thick clothing can lessen the effect. Because this device needs to be used in a very-up-front fashion, it’s best to have the device in your hand before an attack happens. So, if you feel you’re in an unsafe area, a dark alley or going to your car late at night having a stun gun ready in your hand is the best pro-active option.

Tasers

There’s often some confusion between a stun gun and a taser. Yes, primarily they operate in the same way, using an electrical current to take down and disorientate an attacker. However, tasers work by firing barbed darts into the attacker’s skin from a short distance (typically up to 15 feet). The charged electrical darts are attached to a handheld unit by two wires that continue to emit electrical impulses once they find their target.

The current handheld tasers come in two designs; the first looks like a gun or pistol and actually operates much in the same way. The second resembles an electrical handheld razor or shaver, and they tend to be easy to operate for a novice and also cost less than the pistol type.

It’s important to note that tasers (like stun guns) need to make contact with the body. Hitting a running target with a taser is actually pretty challenging and tasers only fire one shot. Also, tasers need to puncture the skin to work effectively so if your would-be attacker is wearing thick clothing or is running at speed there is a good chance the taser will not work.

Self-Defense Sprays

Self-defense sprays such as pepper spray and tear gas are chemical sprays that help to incapacitate an attacker by using an irritant and inflammatory effect on the eyes. Typically most defense sprays available for personal defense in the marketplace use a hot pepper extract for their effectiveness. The hot pepper extract is called Oleoresin Capsicum (OC), this extract is an inflammatory agent that when sprayed into the eyes or even the face of an attacker has an instantaneous effect. The range of self-defense sprays is roughly several feet, and once an attacker has been sprayed, it can take up to 20 to 30 minutes or sometimes even longer to fully wear off.

To give you a rough idea of the effects of pepper spray a typical jalapeno pepper comes in at about 2,5000 Scoville Heat Units whereas commercially available pepper sprays can rate anywhere up to 2 million Scoville Heat Units.do you remember the last time you accidentally rubbed your eyes after touching raw jalapeno pepper? Well multiply that feeling by about eight hundred times and that will give you some idea of how hot self-defense spray can be.

There are many brands of defense sprays but make sure you get a good brand such as Mace and replace the canister about every six months to ensure the spray will work when you need it most.

It’s important to note that the operating distance of several feet is not a significant distance between you and an attacker and the attacker will most probably still be coming towards you once sprayed until the heat really kicks in. Unfortunately, pepper spray affects people differently, for example, some people have a natural resistance to self-defense sprays such as pepper spray whereas anyone under the effects of drugs will be able to tolerate the pain for much longer.

Kubotans (Pocket Sticks)

Kubotans or sometimes referred to as pocket sticks or self-defense batons are simple key chains and come in many shapes and sizes, but they all do the same thing. There are miniature baseball bat looking pocket sticks, some with points, some designed like knuckledusters and some called “cat” keychains. These keychains allow you to give a good jab to the face or any other sensitive area of the body such as the neck, solar plexus, ribs, groin, ankle, and leg, etc. disorientating an attacker and giving you enough time to get away.

It’s important to note that Kubotans (pocket sticks) will require you to engage in close-quarters combat and should only really be used as the last line of defense once all else has failed. As with any self-defense weapons, it’s best to get some training on how to use a Kubotan efficiently, and like any weapon, a Kubotan can be turned against you.

Important Self-Defense Factors to Consider

Choosing what self-defense weapon to buy is the easy part but don’t overlook some of the below factors when purchasing your product. Take note of the laws in your region, non-lethal/lethal weapons, the effectiveness of your chosen product as well as ease of use and general portability before you decide on a self-defense product to buy.

1. Local Laws and Regulations

You might be tempted to run out and buy self-defense weapons but before you do you need to make sure you are following the local law in your region. Read the USA self-defense laws per state here.

2. Effectiveness and Power

As we have touched on briefly above, non-lethal self-defense is better than lethal defense in almost all cases. In the event you kill an attacker, you will be questioned and most likely integrated by law enforcement and lawyers about your actions and will have to prove that your actions were in self-defense.

3. Overall Cost

Can you really put a price on protecting yourself? Most self-defense weapons are very affordable, for example, a simple canister of pepper spray will cost roughly $10, and you can pick up a good stun gun with change from $20.

4. Portability

For many a portable, discrete self-defense weapon that you can carry on your person at all times is going to be the best option. For example, something you can carry on a key chain, in a handbag, or in your pocket is better than nothing at all and give you the element of surprise if you get caught in a dangerous situation.

5. Ease of Use

Along with portability ease of use need to be taken into consideration when buying self-defense weapons. We recommend pepper spray and stun guns for typical defense as these are often cheap, portable, and readily available and require little to no training.